Monday News Roundup

“Recently, the arrest of an opposition leader and the closure of an American-funded democracy institution sparked debate about the future direction of Cambodia’s foreign policy. Will Cambodia be caught in a new Cold War between China and the US?”

“Former Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) President Sam Rainsy, who has been forced to live in exile since 2015 in the face of questionable defamation charges made against him, has been traveling abroad to lobby world governments to put pressure on Cambodian government to halt Prime Minister Hun Sen’s harsh crackdown on the opposition ahead of July 2018 elections. He spoke with RFA Khmer Service reporter Chun Chanboth from Rome, Italy on Friday.”

“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) has protested the Cambodian government’s decision to send 19 Taiwanese nationals suspected of telecom fraud to China, asking instead that they be sent back to Taiwan, a MOFA spokesman said Saturday.”